Ball cock



May 24 1927 J. A. SHERMAN ET AL BALL COCK 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov.

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Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES JOHN A. SHERMAN AND WILLIAM H.

SHEPPARD, 0F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

BALL COCK.

Application led November 3, 1925. Serial No. 66,549.

ln U. S. Patent No. 1,382,391 there is shown a heating system including a tank from which'fluid oil is drawn up into the burner to he ignited in the firebox. These burners sometimes do not shut oit the oil entirely so that the tank is Hooded and the oil overow's into the burner choking the flame and iiooding the tirebox. lVhen this occurs, it often results from the fact that for some reason or other the valve in the ball cock ivhich controls the supply of fuel to the tank has notI closed entirely owing lperhaps. to a collection ot' sediment in the valve itself so that` the valve leaks.

Our present invention provides a new type of valve operable by a ball cock which may be mounted on an airtight or other tank of lthe same character as that shown in the said patent. It will be evident to anyone skilled in the art, however, that the type of valve may be equally Well used with the ordinary plumbers tank.

Our invention will be understood by reference to the drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a section through the oil tank of the character described in said patent.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged View of thevalve shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a plan of the face of one of the members of the valve.

Fig. 6 is a plan of the face of the other member of the valve.

Fig. 7 is an elevation showing a modification of the valve.

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9 9 of Fig. 7.

Figs. 10 and 11 are plans of the opposing faces of the members of the valve.

1 is the tank which preferably is airtight as shown and described in said patent, eX- cept for the air inlet 2 which connects with the air supply in the burner 3, the burner being fed by pipe 4 with a supply of compressed air which by suction in the burner and pressure through the inlet 2 delivers oil from the tank. 5 is the pipe extending down into the oil 6 in the tank 1 through which oilV is drawn up into the burner. These parts and their operation are not further described as they are fully referred to in said patent. 7 is the oil inlet pipe connecting with the oil supply or reservoir and which is controlled by the valve 8, 10 being, -p

the feed pipe from the valve into the tank 6. one member 14 (see Fig. 5) being a stationary member mounted on the vinlet pipe 7.

` and into which the pipe 7 leads terminating in the port 16, the face of the other member 2O having a. groove 24 which is located to register with the ports 16.17 `and 18 in thefaces of the member 14. The member 14 is provided with a central stud 19 on which tits the Wall of the opening 23 in the other member 20. thus serving as .an axis on which the member 2O mai7 turn. The opening 16 is connected with the inlet pipe 7 by means of the passage 21, and in. like manner the openings 17 and 18 are connectible b v similar passages 171 and 181 with the overfiow pine 9 and discharge outlet 10, respectively. The

stud 19 and member 20 are preferably made of hard metal such as steel While. the member 14 of the valve may be made of brass.

'The stud 19 is driven into the centre of the member 14 and is held in place therein by a set screw 22; The passage 24 is of proper shape to register with the ports 16, 17 and 18. It must be sufficiently long to connect the inlet port 16 with either the port 17 or y the port 18. Preferably and as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. it is somewhat longer so that as in Fig. 2 the port 16 will always supply oil when in an automatic system as shown in said patent and the pump is Working or oil is otherwise being supplied to the port 16, and the oil will pass through the passage 24 either in full stream to the port 18 and thence to the tank or to the port 17 and backto the reservoir. lIn the latter case it is desirable that there shall be a slight leakage into the tank to compensate for the slight' draft of oil therefrom by the burner, and for this purpose the passage 24 is long enough to slightly overlap the port 18 as shown in Fig. 2. Thus when the oil is substantially shut off from the tank there will be a slight leakage into the tank for this urpose through the port 18. This'member 20 has a hub 25 and about it a collar 26 through which passes a set screw 27 by which the collar and hub are fastened together. On the Stud 19 is a, washer 28 against which rests a spring 29 which is more or less compressed by a collar 30 held in position on the stud by a screw 31. By this means thel member 20 is held in close and liquidtight but sliding engagement with the member 14. Into the collar 26 is screwed the arm 32 which at its outer end carries the ball float 33. It will be seen that the rising and fall- 'ing of the ball 33 will turn the member 2() according to the depth of the fuel or liquid in the tank 1. As the level of the fuel 6 drops in the tank, the ball drops accordingly and turns the valve member' 20 on its axis until the groove 24 in 20 registers with the port 18 so as to allowa free passage of fuel from the pipe 7 through the passage 21, port 16, passage 24, opening 18, passage 181 .and pipe 10 into the tank. As the tank fills the ball rises turning the member 20 on its axis and gradually closing the connection between pipe 7 and pipe 10. If for any reason there is any leakage so that thel ball still rises the oil is delivered from pipe 7 through ythe port 16, passage 24 and port 17 to the pipe 9 which leads it off back into the original reservoir from which it came or to any other Waste collector.

We have shown in Figs. 7 to 11 a modification of' this valve constructed to cut ofi the oil stream to thetank more suddenly. In this case the groove 241 in the rotary valve member 201, which corresponds to the groove 24 inthe rotary member 20, has a narrow slot-shaped groove 242 projecting therefrom into the are of the outlet to the Atank and in like manner the port 182, which connects with the pipe. 10 leading into the tank, is

" narrow so that a very slight turn of the valve will close this opening. In order to secure the proper co-operation of the parts the port 182 is nearer the periphery of the stationary member 141 than the corresponding port` 18 in the member 14 in Figs. 2 to 6. The ball fioat is set and the groove 242 is of small area so that under normal conditions,-When the oil in the tank is at its normal height and the ball is at its proper level, I

the groove 242 and the port 182 will be in substantial register and will feed oil to the tank fast enough only to compensate for the draft upon -it of the burner. As will be apparent, a very slight movement of the ball fioat will change the registration ofthe groove 242 and the port 182 and hence the control of the flow of oil is very delicate. By these means the level of the oil in the tank will at all times, after the tank has been properly filled, be maintained at a constant level and the surplus of oil iu the valve will bedriven through pipe 9 back into the rescr voir.

It will be seen that this application of a rotary valve to a float control is of ilnportance because. the valve is always in contact with its seat and if the oil contains any sediment it is carried through into the tank instead of lodging in the valve seat where it is liable to prevent the valve from closing, thus allowing considerable leakage and moreover requiring the expenditure of considerable time and labor -to clear the seat.

live do not mean to limit our invention to the precise forms above described as it may be otherwise embodied. Y'

I Vhat we claim as our invention is:- `.1.l The float valve above described comprising a stationary member ada'pted to be inounted'on a tank and a rotary member mounted to turn on said stationary member and means comprising a float for turning it, said stationary member having a fluid inletport and outlet ports, said rotary member having a port in con'nnunication with said inlet port and connectible to either of said outlet ports, one of said outlet ports leadingv into said tank and the other to a point outside the tank.

2. A float valve 'comprising a stationary member and a rotary member mounted to turn thereon, said stationary member having a fluid inlet port and two fluid outlet ports, and said rotary member having a passage therein in communication with said inlet port and connectible with either of said outlet ports, and a fioat arm connected with said rotary turned.

3. In combination with a tank, a valve of the kind described comprising a stationary member whereby it may be member having an inlet port and two outleading into said tank being narrow and radial and said curved passage having a corresponding narrow radial passage adapted to register with said port in said stationary member whereby a slight movement t said rotary member 1n either direction will close the passage to the tank, and means whereby said rotary member may be rotated.

JOHN A. SHERMAN. WM. H. SHEPPARD 

